Daddy's Most Precious Treasure
by Captain Poupon
Summary: Emma's just found out she's pregnant. It's time for her to tell Killian. [Captain Swan]


"Love, are you alright?"

Emma put down the framed photograph of herself surrounded with her husband and her son, and smiled as she heard Killian come closer. She leant back against him as soon as he wrapped her in his arms.

"You've seemed a bit off since yesterday," he added softly, looking at her over her shoulder.

"Everything's fine."

"Emma? You know you can't lie to me."

He sounded concerned, and a simple glance into his eyes was enough to confirm that he truly was.

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "I am hiding something from you, but I'm not lying when I say everything's fine."

"Hiding something from me?"

"More like preparing something for you. A game."

"A game?"

His cheeky smile let her guess which direction his mind had taken and she laughed.

"Not _this_ kind of game. But I won't say more now, you should go, my father's waiting for you."

"Do you realize that my will to get out of this house without you is very low, right now? Even lower than usual. I'm more in a mood for a couch afternoon with you, watching the Netflix, or doing other things. I can cancel, your father will understand."

"No, you can't. My father needs you, and I need time to get ready."

"I guess that means I really have to go."

"Yes, you go," she confirmed, repressing a laugh.

"Wait."

He turned her in his arms and captured her lips. It didn't take her long to notice this was not the gentle see-you-soon-and-remember-that-I-love-you kind of kiss; it was a more avid kiss, and he was pressing her against him more firmly than she expected him to. Realizing what he was doing, she smiled against his lips. As easy as it would be to give in to him, she needed to resist, because she did not want to give up on what she had planned.

"You won't make me change my mind," she whispered. "I'm not keeping you here this afternoon. Tonight."

"Fine, I'll go," he sighed. "See you soon. I love you."

"I love you."

"I know," he said with a bright smile before softly kissing her cheek.

As soon as he closed the door, she looked down and took her hand to her stomach, smiling at the mere thought of announcing the news to her husband. Through the window, she saw him crossing the street and disappearing out of view. It was time to carry out the plans she had spent the night and a part of the morning elaborating. Her father needing Killian to give Neal's bedroom a makeover had come at the right moment, giving her time to do what she had planned; for once, she wanted to do something special, and she now had a few hours to get everything ready.

Emma was putting on her red leather jacket when she saw the man she loved come back. Everything was ready. Zipping it up, she rushed downstairs and into him, barely giving him time to come inside before pressing her lips on his own.

"Here is the perk of being away from you for a couple hours: being welcomed like this when I come back home," he commented. "But that's the only one, I missed you."

"Did everything go well with my father?"

"Aye, we're almost done, the wee lad will soon have a brand-new room. Are we going out?" he asked, indicating the red leather jacket.

"Going out like out on a date, nope. Going out like getting out of the house, more likely." He cast her a questioning look and she bit her lip, preventing her smile from widening even more. "Do you remember this little game I wanted to prepare for you?"

"Do you mean, did I stop thinking about you and trying to imagine what you were up to? No, I didn't."

"What's your theory, about what I'm up to?"

"I don't know, but as long as it involves you and me, I'm up to anything."

"Good! Deputy Jones, a case is waiting for you." He made a face, obviously not having expected this, and she repressed a laugh before adding, "Or, I prefer to say: my favorite pirate, it's time for you to go on a treasure hunt."

"A treasure hunt? What is this all about?"

"That's for you to find out. And the first rule is that, from now on, you're not allowed to ask any question. Or more like, I won't answer any of them. The first hint is in this room."

His crooked smile and playful look let her know he was keen to go on a treasure hunt.

"In this room… You don't plan to be more specific, do you?"

"What fun would that be? I trust you to find it without any help, anyway."

"Well, I guess that means I really have to find this thing, whatever it is, to be worthy of your trust."

"It's not difficult, you can do it."

"No pressure," he chuckled while looking around the room.

He walked around the kitchen before heading to the living room.

"Ha! That must be it," he said when he spotted the fairytales book lying on the couch.

"See? That was not complicated."

"Do you realize what a disappointment it would have been, if I had been unable to find it while you were so confident I would?"

"But I knew you would. You could never disappoint me."

With the book in his hand, Killian shook his head, devouring her with his eyes. "Remind me how I got lucky enough to call you my wife."

"You proposed and I said yes." She took advantage of how he had closed the distance between them to press a quick kiss on his lips. "The book. It'll lead you to the second hint."

"Right. I got distracted."

Killian opened the book and landed on a page picturing him and Emma in the Enchanted Forest, when they had fallen through the time portal. A piece of paper with her handwriting was tucked between the pages.

"Check the agenda," he read out loud. "Alright? Was this page randomly picked, or does it mean anything?"

She shrugged and teased him. "Maybe it was random, maybe it was carefully chosen, or maybe I randomly landed on this page and chose it because it reminded me how much I loved this moment with you."

"The adventure that made my lips irresistible to you," he said with a smirk.

"Well, a man who looked just like you kissed me rather wildly and I became addicted to the taste of those lips." She was unable to repress her laugh when he frowned. "I love how, even years later, you're still jealous because of this."

"That's not funny."

"My dear pouting captain, you know I'm just teasing you. I didn't dislike kissing this past version of yourself, because he was you somehow, but that's not the reason why I finally gave in to you, you know that. It's not only your lips that became irresistible to me. And I would gladly take your breath away right now but I'm afraid we'd forget about the treasure hunt, and I really want you to find the treasure." She came closer to him and her voice became a whisper. "Tonight, I'll remind you that you have no reason to be jealous of any other man I've ever kissed."

Killian smiled brightly. "Just to hear you say things like that, pretending to pout is worth it."

He kissed her cheek and walked past her, heading to the console table on which was an agenda.

" _This_ is new. Meeting, tomorrow at two o'clock." He turned to her. "What meeting?"

"That's another piece of the puzzle."

"The puzzle?"

"Yes, a puzzle… Like, pieces you need to put together to see the big picture."

"I see. And, next hint is on the Jolly Roger," he said, holding another piece of paper. "Are we setting sail? Family meeting tomorrow to warn them we're going on a trip, so that we can live another adventure like this one in the Enchanted Forest?"

"Maybe?"

"Dammit, you really won't give anything away. Well, then, I guess the Jolly Roger is where we need to go."

Using his hook to grab the car key, he handed it to her, and they got into the yellow bug.

During the whole ride, Emma could feel Killian's eyes on her. She tried not to make any face that would give him any hint while she got lost in thought.

In the afternoon of the previous day, Emma was alone at home, as Killian had not come back from the sheriff station yet. She was looking for a nausea remedy in the medicine cabinet when a box caught her eye. She gazed at it for a moment, trying to remember when she had last used it; she was unable to say, but had the feeling that it had been more than a month.

Less than half an hour later, she was back in the bathroom, sitting on the floor against the door. Her eyes were closed while she was mentally counting down the seconds, impatiently waiting for the moment when she would be able to look. The alarm went off, indicating it was time to read the test. She opened her eyes, and clapped a hand over her mouth; the positive sign was clearly visible. Her first thought was Killian. They had talked about this, they wanted it to happen. Sometimes, she even felt like this was all he was waiting for. She checked the time; her husband would probably come back soon. She imagined herself running to him and telling him he was a father-to-be. A happy evening it would be, just the two of them, making plans for the future and picturing themselves with a baby; _their_ baby. But then, she remembered it would not be just the two of them; she checked the time again and made a face: twenty minutes later, they had to be at her parents' for dinner. She would need to wait before telling Killian, because he would be unable to hide his excitement and her parents would guess, and she did not want that; for some reason, she wanted to keep it to herself and her true love at first, without anyone else knowing.

While waiting for her pirate to come back from the station, she mentally prepared herself to hide the news from him until they would come back home. That was when she thought of doing more than just telling him; having to wait before letting him know was giving her time to make it even more special for him.

"What are you thinking about?" Killian asked.

"Uh?" Pulled away from her thoughts, Emma came back to the present time, the bathroom giving way to the yellow bug.

"Your smile's just widened. What were you thinking about?"

"You," she said while pulling over as they had reached their destination.

"Well, I was hoping for something more specific, but this sounds like a lovely reason to smile."

He leant towards her to kiss her lips. Because he moved back too fast to her liking, she followed and shifted closer to his seat; whatever their first plan was, it could probably wait.

Killian smiled against her lips. "Not now, love. I have a treasure to hunt!"

He gave her a teasing look before getting out of the yellow bug. She closed her eyes and passed her tongue over her lip, then got out as well.

"Jolly Roger… I guess that, once more, you won't be more specific?"

Amused, Emma shook her head.

"I knew it. Well, I think I can guess."

"Can you, now?" she teased, concealing how his words had tied her stomach into a knot because, for a second, she had imagined he had guessed what this was all about, and not just the location of the next hint.

"Aye. A place for enjoyable activities," he said in a low voice while walking past her.

She repressed a smile and shrugged. "Could have been the deck, then."

Killian smirked and took her hand to lead her to the quarters. He quickly scanned the room but spotted nothing unusual.

"Perhaps it's time for this pirate to fully focus on his mission," he said. "Unless I say you are the treasure and I happen to be right? Here would be a nice place to end such a treasure hunt."

"One step at a time. I won't tell you whether you're right or wrong, only the hints will lead you to the treasure."

He nodded and walked around the room. Looking for the hint, he glanced at the cot and the desk, checked the drawers, examined the bookshelves. Then, he found it: on one of the shelves was Emma's baby blanket. Hidden inside was a piece of paper.

"Almost there," Killian read. "The last hint can be found in a room that might need a makeover."

Emma could see his profile. Staring at the piece of paper, he suddenly looked more serious and focused on her baby blanket, then turned to her and looked her up and down before gazing at the piece of paper again. Her baby blanket associated with a word about a room needing a makeover; she wondered if the hint had been enough for him to guess. They had talked about this room next to theirs many times. At first, Henry had used it as his second room. Later, because there was already a desk and bookshelves in there, they had decided it could be an office, but they never used it. On several occasions, they had mentioned the possibility to make it over, and a baby's room had been mentioned as an option.

"Killian? What are you thinking of?"

"Nothing. I did think of something, but the first hints have nothing to do with it."

"What is it?"

"So I can't ask questions, but you can?"

"My game, my rules," she shrugged. "Tell me."

"No," he chuckled. "This was just a wild thought. Let's go home and find that last hint."

During the ride back home, Emma could feel her husband's gaze on her even more intensely than earlier. He was also looking much more serious than before, and she could tell he was still pondering over the hints. Her hypothesis was that the last one on the Jolly Roger had put him on the right path, but the first ones were confusing him enough to make him think he was wrong.

The closer they were to their house, the more nervous and excited she was, because she knew it was only a matter of minutes before he would know too.

Without a word, they went upstairs and entered the room next to their bedroom. The hint was clearly visible, lying on the desk. Killian headed straight to it.

"Emma," he said in a low voice, holding the little octopus soft toy in his hand.

"Read the note."

Standing a few steps behind him, clutching the zipper of her red leather jacket, she was biting her lip to try and contain her emotions.

He didn't read the note out loud, but she remembered word for word what she had written: " _The most precious treasure can go unnoticed at first sight. Yours will be right in front of you when you turn around._ "

Killian turned around to face her, and his look made it even more difficult for her to hold back her tears, because it was now only a matter of seconds. He had understood but he was looking for a confirmation; any sign that would let him believe he was right.

Slowly, she unzipped her red leather jacket, revealing the white tank top she was wearing; one that she had made personalized in the afternoon and that was now reading in cursive black letters, " _Daddy's Most Precious Treasure_." The words were followed by a down-facing arrow pointing her stomach.

He slightly shook his head, visibly still struggling to believe.

"I'm pregnant," she confirmed in a low voice, emotion almost making her choke on her words.

The next thing she knew was that she was in his arms, and his lips were against hers, locked in a kiss that was both passionate and gentle. She had rarely felt such an intensity through a kiss, even though they had kissed thousands of times and she had been swept off her feet many times. At the same time, his moves were so soft that she knew he had made her step back only because she could feel the wall behind her. She was overwhelmed with love; love that she knew she would keep getting during this whole new journey; love that would surround their baby from the start; their baby would grow up in a home filled with love and happiness, wanting for nothing. A tear escaped her and silently rolled down her cheek.

Breathless, his lips crossed her cheek and went to her neck. She tightened her embrace and hugged him as tightly as she could, willing to make the moment last longer. They were immobile, except for her fingers lightly scratching the nape of his neck.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Because she had not stopped to think about how she was feeling, she needed a few seconds before finding the appropriate words. "Happy. Excited. A bit scared too. But mostly good. What about you?"

"So, you're alright?"

"Yes," she reassured before asking again, "How do _you_ feel?"

"Like I'm the luckiest man of all the realms."

He was devouring her with his eyes; eyes that were sparkling with joy. Holding his hand and leaning back against the wall, Emma was admiring her husband.

"We're having a baby," she said in a low voice, just to say it out loud.

"We're on our way to build our own family."

Biting her lip, she placed her hand on his cheek. "You get to be a father."

She could see emotion imprinting his features as the words sank in. Last time she had seen this look in his eyes was down the aisle, on their wedding day.

"And you're getting your second chance," he whispered.

Her hand went from his cheek to his neck and she pulled him closer to kiss him. She took his hand and pressed it against her stomach.

"How do you know we're having a baby? I can't feel anything."

"I took a test. Two, actually, to make sure it was real."

"When?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

At first, he seemed surprised, but then, it looked like everything made sense.

"That's why you've been so mysterious since last night."

"I've been tempted to tell you so many times, but we were going to my parents', and then I had this idea."

"The hints," Killian remembered. "The meeting, tomorrow... It can't be the baby already, it has to be visible, first, right?"

"Yes, it'll take months for the baby to grow. But tomorrow, we need to go to the hospital."

"The hospital?"

"Don't worry, it's just an ultrasound to check the baby's alright."

"What? Why? Could something go wrong?"

Knowing her answer was not the one he was hoping to hear, she did not say a word.

"Love," he insisted.

"You don't have to worry. Everything went well for Henry, there's no reason why it should be any different this time. What you need to keep in mind is that, tomorrow, we're going to the hospital for the first ultrasound. I've called it meeting because that's the thing that'll allow to see inside my belly. We're going to see our baby."

His eyes were sparkling with joy again. Her words sounded unreal to her. She could still hardly believe this was happening. She threw herself in his arms again.

"How about we sit down?" Killian suggested.

Emma guessed he was still worrying but didn't point it out. "Do you remember how, this afternoon, you mentioned pizza and Netflix?"

"Aye. Is it what you want?"

"We can go downstairs, order a pizza, and settle on the couch for the evening, to watch a movie or something."

"Let's go!" he approved.

They went downstairs and, when Emma headed to the kitchen to grab her phone she had left on the table, Killian's hand softly closed on her wrist.

"Love, what are you doing?"

"Going to order a pizza," she said, surprised.

"No, no, no, I'm taking care of that. You," he led her to the couch in the living room. "Get some rest."

"Killian... I'm not going to spend months getting some rest while you do everything."

"You're growing the life we created while I'm doing nothing, let me at least take care of the pizza."

"There's no pizzeria button on the phone, it'll be easier if I do it."

"Alright, but you don't need to move, I can bring you everything," he said while handing her her phone.

Both amused and emotional, she watched him looking through a pile of documents.

"What are you looking for?" she asked from the couch.

"The menu."

"It should be there."

"I know."

"Hold on."

"Love, I can take care of this," he said when she came to him.

"But I can help," she said with a smile, holding the worn out pizzeria advertisement describing all the different pizzas. "Do you have any preference?"

"Your heart's desire, as always. Are you sure you shouldn't be getting some rest?"

"I'm sure. Killian, it's not even visible yet, there's no need to worry, I can stand on my feet."

"Let's not take any risk," he said with a smile before going to stand behind her and wrapping her in his arms.

"Well, I won't complain about your methods," she replied while leaning back against him. "Are you sure you don't have any preference about the pizza?"

"I'm sure."

She had just dialled the number when her husband pressed his lips against her cheek.

"Killian, what are you doing?"

His lips stretched into a smile against her skin. A man picked up. She spent most of the call trying not to laugh or lose track of the conversation because of Killian.

"Hawaiian?" he repeated and glanced at the menu.

Emma tried to ignore him and focused on the call.

"Since when do you put pineapple on pizza?" he asked when she hung up.

"Since today. Many people seem to be in a pizza mood tonight, they got many orders, it'll be longer than usual, we have at least forty-five minutes before they come."

"Emma, wait."

She had led him to the couch and was now lying under him, but he had interrupted the kiss and was looking at her stomach. He knew what she had in mind, but had too many questions at the moment.

"The ultrasound thing we have tomorrow, you said it'd let us see the baby inside of you, how does it work?"

Talking was not what she had planned, but the way he was looking at her made it impossible for her to blame him.

"They use some device that they put on my stomach and that sees through it."

"So, it's just something they put _on_ your stomach? Nothing too uncomfortable for you?"

"No, you don't have to worry."

"And we'll see what the device sees?"

"Yes. But it won't be a clear image of a baby. The first time I saw one, I didn't know what I was looking at. And it's so early we might not see much yet."

"I think I've seen such a picture once."

"Really?"

"Aye. Robin showed me this strange picture, something all green and black. It was a picture of his baby, but he told me it was the inside of Zelena. You can't imagine how shocked I was."

Emma burst out laughing. "You never told me about that one!"

"That was before Storybrooke became a quiet town, we probably had more important stuff to deal with." Gazing at her, his thoughts wandered. "What were the other hints? The baby blanket and the room needing a makeover, I understand. But what about the rest?"

"On my way back from the Jolly Roger, I passed this little shop, found the octopus soft toy. It was so cute. Thought it'd be a nice addition to the baby's room."

"I agree. This hint was obvious, too. Why the Jolly Roger?"

"For the game to last longer. But I ended up being even more impatient than you, I couldn't wait for you to find out."

"Since when do you plan such things?"

"I happen to have a romantic pirate as husband, I might have learnt a trick or two from him."

"It was an amazing way to find out," he said before kissing her lips.

"Good." She was unable to take her eyes off him. "Did you finally get your answer about the book?"

"Hmm?"

"The page, I chose it on purpose. Our adventure in the past. Because… Do you remember what you told me there?"

"That you cut quite the figure in that red dress? You were stunning."

"You said something else."

"I'm afraid I can't recall, love."

"You said you always knew there was a little pirate in me. You didn't mean it that way, but there truly is one, now," she said while placing his hand over her stomach.

"Wow, I was far from guessing. I didn't even remember these words."

"You were not supposed to guess, that was the first hint."

Killian looked down at her hand over his own, and at the top she was wearing. "I can hardly believe there will ever be a treasure more precious than you."

Emma giggled. "Wait until the baby's born."

"If our baby does become my most precious treasure, will you get jealous?" he teased.

"If I need to fight for the attention of my devilishly handsome husband, for sure I'll get jealous," she joked and he chuckled.

"Worry not, princess, this pirate captain can cherish more than one treasure at once."

"Consider me relieved!"

"Before the pizza lad comes, how about we celebrate with some rum?" Killian suggested.

"I'd love to but... I can't drink rum, or any other alcohol, while I'm pregnant."

"We won't be able to drink rum for months?"

"You can but I can't. Zero alcohol for the baby."

"I'm not leaving you alone in this."

"You don't have to do this."

"But I want to," he insisted before raising a questioning eyebrow. "Does being pregnant come with other restrictions?"

She bit her lip. "No restriction on any of our activities. And there's still time before the pizza arrives."

One glance at each other and they knew what they both wanted.

Moments later, Emma was nestled against Killian who was lazily caressing her back. They had been silent for a while, now, at first catching their breaths, then simply enjoying a quiet moment.

"Are you scared, too?" Emma asked.

She looked up at Killian who was thoughtfully gazing at her. She had expected him to say he was not, but he remained silent.

"Are you?" she repeated.

"Honestly, love? I'm terrified."

"Really?"

"Aye. But I also know that we'll be fine."

"How can you be terrified and yet so confident?"

"Well, with you for example, even now, I keep being amazed by how I got lucky enough to have you. So many times during the past years, I've felt like I didn't deserve you. But I knew you were independent and didn't need me, so, if it didn't work, you would be fine. The baby will completely rely on us, and I wonder whether I'll be up to the task but the thing is, I _have_ to be. That's why I'm terrified. But I also know that we'll be fine, because we're together and we've always made quite the team. After everything we've been through, there's nothing we can't handle."

Having many things to reply, she didn't know where to start and, at first, only gazed at him. "After having missed everything with Henry, the only thing that makes me think it'll be alright this time is that I have you. Look at how good you've always been with Henry, with Neal, or with Alexandra." A tender smile appeared on her lips as she recalled this moment when she had seen him with the little girl; it was the moment when she knew she wanted to build a family with him. "You'll be an amazing father."

"And you, an amazing mother. We talked about this baby many times, and a little royal pirate is part of the future we both envision. You may not know it but I do: you are ready. I know that because you're my Emma, and I have yet to see you fail. The baby will be lucky to call you 'mum'."

"Remind me how I got lucky enough to call you my husband?" she requested, using what he had said before.

"I proposed and you said yes," he replied with a crooked smile. "And now I'm your baby's daddy and that makes me the luckiest pirate of all realms. We might be scared but I believe in you just like you seem to believe in me. Let's just trust each other on this. The next chapter of our life will be the most amazing yet."

Having no word to express all the love she was feeling at the moment, Emma kissed her husband and melted in his embrace.


End file.
